Sinclair
Sitemap Sinclair ''' --- --- --- --- --- Sinclair - Why again is he set up as a 'Bad Guy' ? : Perhaps the writers were trying to make you think he was another lying manipulator like Atlas/Fontaine was ? Sinclair has lines in behavior he wont cross (certainly far short of where Fontaine or Lamb were willing to go - like killing people who were in their way), there are things he just wont do. He might be somewhat dishonest in his business practices, but "Let The Buyer Beware" is nothing new in the World, and is a part of personal responsibility which Rapture is much about. He is an Opportunist, but he appears to have largely worked within the law (perhaps why he came to Rapture with fewer of them). You might say "He sold people to Fontaine Futuristic for experiments or Big-Daddification" ... But if you look at those posters in Persephone, that looks like it was voluntary (similar things happened in real world prisons in the 1950s and earlier in the USA - with prisoners getting reduce sentences for volunteering for medical experiments). With Persephone also being the City's Insane Asylum, and where Criminally Insane people were dumped. There WOULD be the question of (in a City where people are supposed to 'pay their own way') what to do with them for the rest of their lives, and how to pay for them to be warehoused and cared for. For insane people beyond help of therapy, employing them as Big Daddies to give them some work might be justified. As seen with the 'Handymen' in Infinite BS it is possible that the City Worker Cyborgs (we will need to come up with a 50s term they were given before 'Big Daddy' ever existed) might include a number of physically disabled people who volunteered for their 'transformation', and kept much of their personality and free will (even the later Big Daddies didn't lose their minds -- they weren't Robots). Sinclair 'Art' is Business and Making Profits : * He is creative in his ways of finding new methods and paths to achieve his results. * He doesn't force anyone into buying his products or into accepting or following his beliefs (or working for him). * Other people benefit by his actions and he greatly contributes to Rapture's advancements. '''About Sinclair : Augustus Sinclair (Paupers Drop) " Now, I'm a modest man. But my piecemeal needle scam's an outright masterpiece: some slob shacked up here buys a box of syringe parts from me for twice what it's worth. He assembles 'em in his rathole, and I buy back the finished product... for a dime against the dollar that I'll get from Ryan. Profit comin', profit goin'. Ol' Andy rambles on about the Great Chain... I got people shellin' out to pull it for me!" Having him say this as if this is anything new in business processes is pretty distorted (trying to impart some kind of swindling sinister-ness to something done in real business day in and day out). People would be shocked if they learned how little things they buy actually cost in materials. What they don't realize is labor/process adds much of the value, and Sinclair has costs and risks and additional work/organization on his side to offset this assumed clueless 'syringe needle component price' versus the 'delivered to Ryan' price (as if it were all profit) distortedly being presented. Sinclair should be more surprised that he doesn't have more competition (which in Rapture would make alot of sense and IS kind of dim to be omitted), as anyone else could do exactly as he does and could undercut his prices (and 'Ryan' WOULD buy the ones at the lower price...) Sinclair was already rich when he came to Rapture and Pharmaceuticals was a real world way of making that happen (and at that time plant-based chemicals/drugs were a large source - something you really didn't have premade sources for in Rapture -- but Sinclair could using his previous experience/know-how with plants to bring them to be cultivated - and useful modern drugs would be something Ryan WOULD want for 'self-contained' Rapture). Having Pre-ADAM labs Tenenbaum worked in, meant Sinclair probably was already working in the medical (drugs? anti-biotics?) field.... Ryan actually had regard for proper competition ( "Offer a Better Product" ). So Sinclair also being in the ADAM product business probably would not make him Ryan's enemy (even better if Sinclair could figure out how to make the ADAM stuff safer, to cause less instability/damage). Ryan had all the rest of Rapture and his businesses to worry about. Sinclair might develop/market something different on his own (via his 'Think Tank' - "Selling Ryan Short"), or if it was too big a project, sell it to Ryan who had 'deeper-pockets' and who wanted to outdo Fontaine. Remember, the ADAM industry was BIG with alot of different people/companies working on many different projects/products. So it would be highly likely Sinclair would not know all of what Tenenbaum was working on (particularly if it was something Fontaine wanted kept secret). Ditto for Suchong. I will have to go back and read the Novel again. Those pages (p119) paint Sinclair in a better light than is portrayed in many parts of the Solo game - he is more mindful of 'civilized' conventions - lines that he wouldn't cross, and knew that people would (in Rapture) be held responsible for their actions - which is a major balancing component of the philosophy Ryan had. Still, nothing in the game indicates if Sinclair was that much involved in the Plasmid business. Sadly, the series does not explore the (likely many) possible competitors for Fontaine Futuristics and Ryan Industries, and advertisements don't show any other name than theirs. Still, yes, the way Sinclair handled those tests both at Persephone and with the Consumer Reward Program, show he already had experience with the pharmaceutical market, and/or that he also used to conduct such tests prior to Rapture. I don't think Ryan would have worked with Sinclair if the guy was double-crossing him. Also, Ryan Industries was providing Sinclair Solutions with experimental products for testing. If Sinclair had those (Aero Dash, Geyser Trap and Houdini) sold on the market under his own brand, he would have been the first suspect Ryan would think of (besides the considerable expense Sinclair would have had to achieve any such production and marketing on his own). Sinclair was a smart opportunist, but in the end he wasn't as much a monster as Fontaine was or seemingly Ryan became (or rather as the authors had to make him a cutout bad guy). Sinclair asking Delta to end Sinclair's life in BioShock 2 showed that. The irony was he was made into one of the 'monsters' (BD) he had helped others create. Anti-biotics were the latest things in World medicine around the time Rapture started and alot of the advertised ADAM products were medical related (I hadn't heard of Phossy Jaw before seeing one for curing that). So there probably were very many different/specialized products of just that kind (ex- we never got the name of the one(s) Steinman used for his surgery -- EZ-Slice-N-Dice, Good-As-New, Dr Sterns Liquid Suture, Scar-B-Gone ...) . The industrialists/technologists/scientists/engineers who came also had skilled staff which many may have brought with them to Rapture (So Sinclair didn't do it all himself, but it sounded like he could understand all the very technical stuff). No doubt like Silicon Valley, as the industry expanded many would form their own companies off good ideas they got while working for others. So I don't think Sinclair would have 'double-crossed' Ryan, but would keep any additional business of his own separate and might take opportunities in niches which Ryan ignored. Count how many Plasmids/Tonics were in the Gatherers Garden and think how many more there likely were (and how many may still have been just being developed/researched). Ones being sold to just to get rid of Migraines or Hangovers might have hands down outsold all the rest. ---- ---- Various Messages In Sinclair's OWN Words Literal Interpretation NOT (for things Augustus Sinclair Says in the Game) ' : Assumptions I've seen people make based on them taking a literal interpretation of Sinclair's very colorful language and phraseology (They didn't quite get it that he obviously talks in 'round' terms and allegorically.) Yes, he might have been an opportunist, but he couldn't much cheat people to stay in business as long as he was shown to have (Rapture is a small place and Reputation counts for something in that small a business venue). Its more he seems to find niche businesses other people miss or aren't flexible enough to undertake. Example Misunderstanding : Someone ASSUMES there's a Sinclair Spirits in Paupers Drop so that Sinclair can suck the life's blood of his tenants in The Sinclair Deluxe. That being based on A REMOVED (not used in game) Audio Diary. '-REMOVED Audio Diary- Sinclair Deluxe & Sinclair Spirits : Sinclair : " If a smart fella wanted to talk some bankrupt fat-cat into moving to a slum, he'd call the place a Hotel on the nightly. The tenant dries his eyes an' tells himself it's only temporary -- and the smart fella shaves a dime a day off his drinkin' wage. Now, a smarter fella might also bankroll the local gin joints... and take him for the rest. 1) It should be pointed out that there is no Sinclair Spirits in the game at that location (not even a sign). 2) There are already bars (Limbo Room IN Paupers Drop) and such selling alcoholic substances (something common across Rapture) which Sinclair would have to compete with (and if anything Sinclair would be selling it to them at a bit less to beat out the competition). 3) Maybe if he had a vending machine selling booze (Hmm, good idea for the MMORPG) 4) Sinclair Spirits (seen in Fort Frolic/Poseidon Plaza) was kinda too upscale for "Tenement/Shantytown Folk". Maybe a nice grocery store for the 'poor' area would be a far better establishment to have in Paupers Drop/Sinclair Station/Maintenance Area 47 (though we didn't see any - a definite deficiency ). I don't doubt that certain literally trapped people heard Sinclair say "killing Two Birds with One Stone" - that they would start looking for dead birds (or complaining that he was a bird-murderer or somesuch) ... Some people just don't GET colloquialisms, slang, nor colorful language. ---- "Siren Alley's the kinda place you go to scratch an itch you're ashamed of... even in a town with no laws." - Augustus Sinclair Itch? I think they have a new Zinc preparation that will do wonders for that. No laws (I've been through THAT one before ... Its NOT "No Gods, No Kings, No Laws - Only Man" ). ---- ' "'Power to the People'? Hell, I've met the people, friend... an' they're a pack o' shaved monkeys run amok." - Augustus Sinclair ' Shave Monkeys Rhesus? Howler? Capuchin? (Were these old world or new world monkeys ?) Shaved ? How do you get a monkey to stay still for that - Little straight Jacket and a bench vice ??? ? Seriously some people need to read more to be exposed to creative talking - the writings of Mark Twain would be a good place to start. ---- ' "You do business as long as I have, and you learn to pick a brand name from the writin' on the wall." - Augustus Sinclair ' Literal Interpretation NOT : What did this writing on the wall say ? What language was it written in, and 'written' with what ( paint? chalk? crayon? excrement? gold-leaf? ...) ---- Wooden Nickels : Sinclair : "Andrew Ryan. He reckoned the free market was some kinda holy spirit gonna lead us all over the rainbow -- and I reckon it's a big fat hooker too dim to spot a wooden nickel. So old Andy went an' became his own ghost, and I whittled nickels 'till I made a mint." "big fat hooker" ((I really cannot understand people who seriously think Sinclair talks literal.)) Free Market - Of course its a matter of degree, as Sinclair's actions require a 'free market' too. ((Is this another lame attempt of the writers to try to smear Ryan's vision yet again? It wasn't capitalism or Objectivism that destroyed Rapture it was an evil power hungry thug named Fontaine who intentionally poisoned people and unleashed terrorists on the city. Evil men flourish under socialism and communism most of all - they run things. Lamb murdered people who didn't fall for her 'vision'). How many nickels did Sinclair whittle while waiting years for Delta to arrive - didn't see any in that room he was holed-up in (the hidden one in Ryan Amusements with all the small TV monitors). ---- Wrong Side of the Tracks : Sinclair : "Ol' Pauper's Drop's the worst neighborhood in Rapture -- but it's a hell of an opportunity to raise up some ah, affordable housin'. When Atlantic Express was constructin' their luxury passenger line, this place was hollowed out beneath as flophouses for the railway crew. Nobody was s'posed ta reside down here long-term -- but when you're broke in this town, you're not exactly swimmin' in alternatives. I don't favor spendin' more than an hour or so down here at a time. There ain't a side of the tracks more wrong than under 'em." When was this recorded? Sounds like before he built his Sinclair Deluxe. AE was built fairly early in Raptures history (was needed to make the City run, and probably to build it in the first place). So those TEMPORARY 'flophouses' beneath happened at that time, and then get abandoned after the construction moves on (or later ceases). That then would be the time this 'Shantytown' grew up (and before all the fancy neighborhood redevelopment stuff we see there). If Sinclair is THERE, then it sounds as if he is there watching his construction (but the seedy squatter elements aren't quite gone yet). ---- Profit Coming, Profit Going : Sinclair : "Now, I'm a modest man. But my piecemeal needle scam's an outright masterpiece : some slob shacked up here buys a box of syringe parts from me for twice what it's worth. He assembles 'em in his rathole, and I buy back the finished product... for a dime against the dollar that I'll get from Ryan. Profit comin', profit goin'. Ol' Andy rambles on about the Great Chain... I got people shellin' out to pull it for me!" Still Sinclair IS paying for the labor involved. That one testimonial (of a guy involved in this needle work) that calls Sinclair the sucker for the 'scam' doesn't see any problem, and likes the flexibility of the "piecemeal" work. Remember all the OTHER overhead comes out of Sinclair's end (BTW - expenses are subtracted BEFORE you count any 'Profit' --- for those who haven't a clue about how business works). He's also supplying the money up front, and is the one taking the risk. Perhaps its because so many people these days are incredibly ignorant about how real business works that the writers though they could use THIS to present Sinclair as some evil meanie. Wait till they learn how much profit Apple gets for their toys, and might see how THEY are also part of a similar 'scam'. Ryan isn't stupid, and is likely NOT to overpay on Sinclair's syringes ... unlike the typical 'affluent' fad-driven Apple customer. ---- Farther to Fall : Sinclair : "I do love Siren Alley. The kind of place you go to scratch an itch you're ashamed of -- even in a town with no laws. But that's not why I favor it. The place started out as the Mason's Quarter, all builders an' architects, proper as you please. An' it just tickles me when someone in a fancy hat falls in the mud. Like a lot of the ladies down here, Siren Alley was born with a more respectable name ... but only God remembers what it was." Society still has standards of behavior and people in other areas didn't want certain thing happening in THEIR area (Google "Red Light District"). SO in Rapture you could make your own area and have the rules there be somewhat different from other areas. Example of 'Redevelopment' and adjustment (as with most construction work needed in Rapture, it would be obvious to most anyone that 'masons' (specialized construction workers/craftsmen) would eventually have had an economic downturn in their industry in Rapture. ---- Selling Ryan Short : Sinclair : "Persephone... secret home o' Sinclair Solutions. I bet against Andy Ryan's vision o' harmony in Rapture -- offered him a quiet place to send anybody who wasn't workin' out. And now I'm sittin' on my own private think tank. Technically, Utopia shouldn't have much use for a detention facility... but if you do business as long as I have... well, you learn to pick a brand name from the writin' on the wall. " He predicted economic problems to surface (Ryan never claimed there wouldn't be any) Jails are always needed in society, but ADAM driving people insane wasn't expected. The mayhem ADAM caused required things be 'handled'. Ryan never called it a utopia, just a place where parasites weren't welcome. ---- Sacrifices : Sinclair : "Things aren't so rosy for Lamb's little collective farm down here, no matter how much influence she's got with the inmates. She keeps feedin' Ryan more an' more o' her people for the Big Daddy program in order to keep the rest of her flock alive... I think she's gettin' desperate. I oughta have Weir double the orderlies on all the major junctions." Unfortunately when they unlocked all the doors there are too many for 'orderlies' to handle. Still its rather vague about whether people were simply taken (in Persephone) or that the candidates were the Criminally Insane and/or Severely Brain Damaged (much likely caused by ADAM abuse). Having Lamb do the 'volunteering' seems a bit heavy handed (use her usual Svengali abilities the writers gave her to dispose of those 'not of use' to her plans). ---- Private Interests : Sinclair : " I hear often, "Mr. Sinclair, you just gotta heart o' stone... Don't you wanna share with your fellow man?" An' I tell 'em, listen... I hail from sunny Panama... and my grand-daddy got himself drowned buildin' the Big Ditch. Went on an' on about doin' it for the "People." For the world entire ! Well, not for me, thank you. I came to Georgia to strike it rich, and Rapture all the moreso. You won't catch me blowin' my last bubble for any other personage... plural or singular. " How could his grandfather go on and on (for Lil' Auggie to hear this himself ) ? Shouldn't Gramps have been dead drowned as a worker there at the Canal 40+ years earlier?? How likely his grandfather could be a laborer? More likely he some kind of engineer/manager to be working on that project at an advanced age ? The 'Gold' (white) workers could have their families there with them while working on the Panama Canal (for gramps to be tellin his grandson). Is it second hand - related from some relative ? (Bad Working "Went on an' on" sounds like a direct hearing by Augustus himself.) In any case, is it evil (as the writers see it) for someone to say they would NOT want to get themselves killed for 'the betterment of other people' ?? Self-interest is a sin to the writers ? Why else stick this into the game. I doubt the gamemakers took no salary (let alone risked death) just to 'give all of us' this wonderful game ( 'Doin it for the Players.' ) ---- '-REMOVED Audio Diary- All Family Now' : Sinclair : " Lamb wouldn't call it grift, but her recruitment strategy is grade "A" flim-flam, an' I just have to tip my hat. She has her people splice a pile o' common genes into themselves... like blood brothers, except it's the genuine article. You die to protect the others - but some o' you lives on in them. 'Collective gene loyalty', they call it. It's mostly a mind game, but it worked to unite 'em... they're all "Family" now. " Removed/Not-Used probably because the concept wasn't 'noble' enough, OR was a complication/confusion/contradiction of the 'utopian' thing (the ADAM is goin to the Utopian...) Also seems to talk of 'genetic' stuff (hard to do until after she got control of Fontaine Futuristics which was a later development) instead of just using brainwashing/manipulation. ---- '-REMOVED Audio Diary- Rise of the Underdog' : Sinclair : " Sofia Lamb's had her eye on Rapture for years, and now she's got it. She started preachin' unity an' brotherhood for the downtrodden right here in the Drop. This movement springin' up around her is almost a kinda old-time religion. Now these governors Lamb's got in charge would never'a seen power in Ryan's day. They're nobodies, really. But I used to raise spaniels - an' the only thing meaner than the top dog ... was the underdog when he'd just plain had enough." Why removed ? To 'explainy' ?? Again makes Lamb into too much a manipulator ? Religion ? Would ruin some of the BS2 scenes, which then would have been redundant to explain it all this way. Apparently recorded after Ryan was dead and Lamb has 'come out' of Persephone in Rapture's power vacuum/disorder. Sinclair apparently got 'run off' his property at that time. SO the state of The Sinclair Deluxe we see 5+ years later (in BS2 ) can be attributed to mismanagement of Lamb's minions (despite the writers pretending it was HIS slum). ---- '-REMOVED Audio Diary- A Little Interview' : Sinclair: "How are you settling in, Doctor? Persephone's got no shortage of nuts to crack, an' your congregation makes up the standin' majority. We need ya down here." Lamb: "Yet I appear before you in chains. Tell me, Augustus -- does it comfort you to equate faith with madness?" Sinclair: "No ma'am. God is the original hard-sell. You know it, and I know it. An' there's no better bluff with the hard-luck crowd than namin' the prime mover as your silent partner. I'm just blushin' that you got there first." REMOVED/NOT_INCLUDED Because its too complicated for the average Player (who just wants to be shooting things)? Too much religion ?? Lamb misusing religion (when writers want 'religion' to be the bad thing, and Dr Sofia Lamb is for that Touchy-Feeley crap so popular these days ?) Alludes to Ryan simply locked up 'religious people' instead of members of a 'church' bent on taking over Rapture (when other content contradicts that)? Redundant again ? Players might not know that Prisons in the old days were expected to largely be self-supporting. Remember when they used to make Licence Plates in prisons (so prevalent it became a cliche), AND when you owned a car you had NEW plates made every year ? Sinclair's 'Think Tank' was mentioned, but they didn't really talk of him being involved in running Persephone on a 'day to day' basis. So this msg was a bit too cozy for the narrative used in the game ? ---- ' "Atlantic Express" Sinclair's Radio Message to Delta ' : Introduction and a Proposition : "Well, look at you! A bona fide knight in armor, complete with iron horse. The name's Augustus Sinclair, sport. Esquire. Ol' Tenenbaum an' I share an interest in the ol' Fontaine buildin', the very same place you'll find Eleanor Lamb. I think you an' I can do business. Take the train to Ryan Amusements. I'll see you shortly." How was Sinclair able to see Delta ? Have info about Eleanor, etc... ? Sinclair musta had various places wired (Note those TVs in his HideeHole in Ryan Amusements). He did survive Lamb's murderous Regime (avoiding it for years while in the vicinity of the area she controlled), so he musta had alot of abilities/influence hardly even hinted at. Perhaps as the builder of Persephone, he knew all its secrets and coulda flooded/drowned the place in minutes if she went after him (Dead Man Switch mechanisms as 'insurance' ...) I'm sure the MMORPG could enlighten us about what that actual situation was. ---- --- --- --- One of Sinclair's Pithy Sayings : "You can make a City float, but you cannot make people stay in it." "There are Infinite possibilities for selling Dog Vomit, if you know what you are doing." "A smart man turns a too leaky building into an indoor fish farm." "Why should I have a liquor store in Sinclair StationLater renamed Paupers Drop when Sofia Lamb and her 'Family' was in charge. ? They either pay my rent or buy booze, but not both. I already have the hotel. " --- --- --- 'Wooden Nickels (Audio Diary) ' : Sinclair : " Andrew Ryan. He reckoned the free market was some kinda holy spirit gonna lead us all over the rainbow -- and I reckon it's a big fat hooker too dim to spot a wooden nickel. So old Andy went an' became his own ghost, and I whittled nickels 'til I made a mint." Implies that Sinclair still did significant business AFTER Ryan was dead (1960 post-civil-war chaos), which kind-of runs contrary to how wrecked Rapture supposedly was portrayed at that point (Did we get in the first BioShock a run through of the disrupted parts of Rapture, by Atlas, because he kept us away from Ryan Loyalist controlled areas ? Did Atlas/Fontaine himself mostly stick to the 'Sewers', which he felt safe in, while the dragnet was looking for him (with or without the Pheromone Control thing)? A 10,000 ADAM Bounty offered on Atlas (Dead or Alive) --- THAT woulda made him keep his head down , real real low ...) ---- . .